Women's Writing
by Orlissa
Summary: Zutara Week 2011 day 3: Social Networking. There are so many things Katara doesn't know about the customs in the Fire Nation – and this just becomes more apparent when she gets an invitation to an exclusive group…


**Summary**: There are so many things Katara doesn't know about the customs in the Fire Nation – and this just becomes more apparent when she gets an invitation to an exclusive group…

**A/N**: A few hours late, but it's finally done :) This prompt was really difficult for me – it feels unnatural for me to give them computers and cells and such. So I had to think of something to avoid it. First, I had some very intricate, very difficult plot idea in mind, but then I aborted it. but I kept thinking and thinking, then finally I remembered something I read in a Lisa See novel, titled Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Now, I don't want to spoil my own work, so I won1t write about it here, but you'll find what I am talking about at the end of the story, in the trivia section :P Enjoy!

**Rating:** T

**Word count:** 3118

**Disclaimer:** [Insert funny text here that tells you that I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender]

**Women's Writing **

Being the newly crowned Fire Lady had its perks and drawbacks, Katara learned it quite quickly. Only, sometimes, it was hard to tell if something was a perk or a drawback – just like the obligatory tea parties.

Invitations for these events, hosted by prominent Fire Nation noblewomen, started to come right after she and Zuko had returned from their honeymoon from Ember Island. It was soon established that she should attend, if not every one, but at least a few of them. And to be honest, at least this way she had something to do with all of her sudden came free time – she was not used to the idea of not having to take care of others. There were parties that felt like pure hell, with stuck up nobles and wives of important generals and ministers, who all but said out loud that she was invited only because of her new status – which she didn't deserve, in their opinion – and so that they could torment her, and then there were some which were quite fun, with light-hearted conversation, soft chuckles and real smiles.

So she attended, wrote thank-you letters, and got more invitations and letters everyday. It slowly became a nice custom, then one fine morning she got a rather… interesting letter.

Unlike the other scrolled-up letters, which always had one wax seal on them, it was flattened out to gave place not one, but six seals, each of them she recognized as the family crests as some high-ranking Fire Nation families, with whose female members she had attended the more pleasant tea parties. Five seals, in a nice row, took place on the top of the letter, totally uselessly, while the sixth one – the same as the fifth in the row – actually closed the letter. Intrigued, she broke the sixth seal, opened the letter, and –

Gasped.

She couldn't read it. It was written in some kind of… dialect, no cryptogram, really, what she had never seen before. It was neat, written in simpler characters than the average writing used in the Fire Nation, but it didn't change the fact that she had no idea what was written there, which somehow had put her on the edge. After all, it could have been a death threat for all she knew.

She got from her desk, picked up the mysterious letter, and took off to find Zuko, hoping that he would know more about it. As it turned out, he did.

She found him in his own study, going over some reports from the Earth Kingdom colonies, the annoyance clear on his face.

"Zuko." She kind-of greeted him, as she entered the room without knocking. Zuko looked up, instantly relieved to see her, but his delight disappeared in a blink of an eye as she handed him the letter without a word. Zuko take a look at it, his brows furrowing – Katara took it as a bad omen – then looked up at his wife standing in front of his desk with a 'you got to be kidding me'-look.

"Why are you bothering me with this?" He asked, a little harshly. "It's your business entirely, not-"

"You can read it?" She cut in impatiently, which seemed to embarrass Zuko a little, which she couldn't understand.

"No, of course not, it's-" He stopped mid-sentence, figuring out her problem. "You can't read it." He put the letter down, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Of course I can't read it, otherwise I wouldn't be this worried about it, and wouldn't bother you with it, as you put it." The volume of her voice grew with each word.

Zuko sighed, understanding her problem – apparently, it wasn't custom in the Water Tribes. He motioned her to sit, which she did, on the edge of the desk, and started to explain her what he knew about that letter.

"It's written in Nüshu – I can't read it, as I already told you, but I recognize the characters from the letters my mother wrote when I was a child." He said, and Katara listened to him interested. "It's an… exclusively women-thing, and it's a custom here to teach young girls to read and write it; but no-man is taught to read it, you see. It's a kind of gossip-chain, I reckon. And you have to be invited to be a part of a group which participates in this." He took a short break, trying to remember more about it, but failed. "That's all I know. Maybe you should ask mother about it. She can tell you anything – I told you, I remember her writing this kind of letters." He sighed, and took her hand. "And Katara… I am sorry to have snapped at you earlier. I didn't mean to. I was just so annoyed, then I though-" She leaned in, and cut him off with a kiss.

"Apology accepted." She smiled when they pulled away. "Now I think I am going to see your mother. See you at dinner?"

"Sooner, if I can help it." He said, as he stole another kiss from her. She finally got up, and left the room, while thinking how good it was to be newlywed.

Ursa was very understanding and patient with her, as always. She told her that it was against the rules of Nüshu to read a letter which was written outside the group one belonged, but she read Katara's nonetheless and told her that it was, in fact, an invitation to one newly-formed Nüshu group. Katara had doubts whether she wanted to join or not.

"I mean, I can't even read this." She explained to her mother-in-law, poking the letter. "And I am not even sure if I want to take part in… something like this." She said, unsure. Ursa just smiled at her over the rim of her teacup. The two women sat in a patio, overlooking to the turtleduck-pond, enjoying their afternoon tea.

"The first can easily be solved – Nüshu is not hard to learn. I can teach you in the matter of weeks. As for your other discomforts… what do you know about it? Or should I ask – what has my son told you about it?" She smirked.

"Well… he said that it was a kind of gossip-chain, and…" Well, he didn't tell her much more. Ursa shook her head, smiling.

"Well, I won't say that it involves no gossiping…" She said slyly. "But it's much more than that. The women in your group will be your allies and advisors – and you will need them in the coming years, believe me. The women in the upper classes tend to be rather cruel, and you'll need somebody to stand by you against them. Also, in the future, you will face situations you will have questions about. Of course, I'll be here for you when that time comes," She said reassuringly "but I believe that there will be topics when I won't be your first choice to ask for advice from.

"Of course, Nüshu has its unwritten rules. Nothing leaks from the group – meaning that it can't be a trap to embarrass you-, but at the same time, there are absolutely no secrets, no taboos within the group."

Now, this scared Katara a little.

"But what if they want… they want to know about the council meetings, or the new laws, or…" Katara rambled, knowing that Zuko would, in the future, as he had done so far, fill her in the issues of the nation, asking for her opinion. Ursa held up a finger, silencing her.

"You shouldn't worry about that. Believe me, these ladies will be more interested in what happens in the bedchamber of the Fire Lord rather than in the meeting halls."

Katara blushed; now, she started to grasp the concept of 'no taboos'.

"But I hardly know these women…" She glanced at the wax seals on the letter; one was a young noblewoman's, married to some minor minister, with two little children. One of the others was her engaged younger sister's, the other her single sister-in-laws, the fourth the latter's friend, whom Katara knew hardly anything about; the last cousin of the first two, married, expecting her first child. Yes, she hardly knew anything about them, other than they were pleasant companions and tolerated her – maybe even liked her, considering their invitation.

"So… you are advising me to take their invitation, and join this group?"

"The most strongly." Ursa nodded. "I took part in one when I was your age, and remained there up until I was banished, and I only have fond memories from those times."

Katara considered this. After all, it was a Fire Nation custom – and she was part of the Fire Nation now -, and, according to Ursa, it was a good thing… even if she had to pour her heart and soul to these women…

But she finally made up her mind.

"Could you teach me the Nüshu, please?" A slow smile appeared on Ursa's face at her words.

"It would be my honor, dear."

And so the lessons began. First, taking Ursa's advice, she wrote all the women in the group – using standard calligraphy – a letter, informing them that she would be honored to be part of their group, but first, she had to learn the ways of the Nüshu, asking them to be patient with her, and stating that she would be joining their correspondence in a few weeks. They seemed to accept this, even if a little bit surprised at her lack of knowledge; but nonetheless, they reassured her the next time they met at a tea party, that they couldn't wait until she had mastered the Nüshu. And, for the first time since she had moved to the Fire Nation, Katara felt like she had found real friends.

She met Ursa twice a day for the purpose of learning – once right after breakfast, once early afternoon, when the great heat of the fire Nation climate forced everyone inside to seek the coolness of the palace. Their lessons usually took two, sometimes three hours, but Katara had to admit the Nüshu really wasn't that difficult. The characters were quite simple, and there were only about six hundred characters to learn. The first week was spent learning the most basic of them. By the second week, she was able to write down simpler sentences; by the third week, she started to exchange short letters with Ursa, using only a dictionary as her help. And by the end of the fourth week, she was ready to really join the Nüshu group.

From the day when she sent her first Nüshu letter, her personal messenger hawk had no rest – letters from the others came at least thrice a day. Every letter had to make to every member – as it turned out, the row of seals on the letter indicated the women's place in the circle; the first seal was the sender's, the second the one's who got it first, just like that. A letter usually went around six or seven times before the topic was closed – or they ran out of empty space on the scroll.

Also, the women – or rather girls? – were very friendly. No-one used honorifics or useless formulas like they would have done face to face. And, as Katara found out quite quickly, there were really no taboos in the group. They talked about intimacy just as freely as about food or fashion - it took them only three days into the correspondence to get to the secrets of their bedrooms.

_So… what's sex really like? Really, really like. I don't really care about mother's banter. You tell me girls: what are your __experiences? What can a girl expect?_

Wrote Aiko, the young bride, just two months shy of her wedding – and wedding night – then. She was kind of shy in person – but rather outspoken in Nüshu, but then, every of them were. And, naturally, she was curious.

The answers came, and they astounded Katara, who got the letter last. Kaori and Rien – the sister-in-law of Aiko's older sister Riko and her friend – both being maidens weren't much help, but the other two women, both married, were rather chatty about the topic.

_It really depends on the man, or so I have heard – whether if he is seeking only his own pleasure and takes you selfishly, or considers you a partner even in the bedroom. I think I can have no complaint about my husband – he is rather satisfying, and knows all the right places where to touch me. And, I have to admit, he is rather blessed in certain areas._

Read Riko's answer to her younger sister's question, which made Katara blush – but not as much as the next message – written by Ume:

_I must agree with you cousin, and add, that this is why as soon as I have given birth, I am finding myself a __lover who knows how to actually please a woman, not jus poke around, the collapse on me grunting. Any candidates, ladies?_

Upon reading this Katara couldn't help but laugh in embarrassment and at the pure ridiculousness of it (it didn't help the situation that later Ume really did get a lover). When she read this Zuko was in the room as well, and he raised his head hearing her laugh, looking at his wife, silently asking her what was so funny.

"It's… it's just something the girls wrote. You know – just some silly Nüshu gossip" She answered, echoing his statement from a month earlier, when he said that Nüshu was just a gossip-chain. One part of her ached to tell him what was written in the scroll, even if the rule of the Nüshu forbade her, while her other part was content to have something to keep from him. She could also tell he was dying to know what was going on – but he restrained himself from asking, from begging her to tell him if he was at the centre of their conversation. It was really better this way, Katara reasoned – Nüshu wasn't invented to be shown to the husbands. Especially to the husbands. She had a faint idea that if Zuko was ever to find out all the little details she had shared with her friends in Nüshu over the years about him, he would have gotten a heart attack. Or, maybe, that one little answer she wrote on that first week would have been enough to do the trick.

_I don't have anything to complain about either, _she wrote_. Zuko is gentle and patient when he needs to be, but fiery and passionate other times. Our nights together are in all means exhilarating and exciting and amazing, and all the positive adjectives you can think of. And while I have nobody to compare him to, I doubt that I would find a better lover than him not in one, but in thousand lifetimes._

The girls jokingly replied to this that she was way too much of a newlywed yet to see things clearly, but then added that they were kind of jealous. After that, of course, the topic of what happens in the bedroom was not dropped – it never was -, but it also gave way to other discussions. General gossiping was one of their favorites. Who was cheating her husband with who, whose marriage reached a rocky part, who was wondering if poisoning her husband would be a good idea… no exaggeration here. They also talked about fashion, exchanged ideas for dresses, hairstyles, helped the others in hosting bigger events and such, and they, eventually, provided advice and support in much more serious question as well.

Like in the question of fertility.

_I am loosing all hope, girls. We have been trying for more than a year, and nothing. My husband is getting annoyed by it, and I am loosing all hope. Why can't I get pregnant? You didn't have any problem with it, did you? What did you do? What should I do?_

Wrote Kaori, wife for nearly two years then, after about four, almost five years they started their correspondence. Katara was a mother of two by then, and everybody in their group, expect Kaori, had children already – and none of them had any problem with getting pregnant, either.

Every one of them was eager to help the young wife, but their advice was rather useless.

_Keep praying for Agni. Offer him a great sacrifice. It will happen sooner or later._

_Only let your husband touch you when the moon is full. Fail-proof method._

_Exclude all kind of meat from your diet. It helped me._

Katara only shook her head at these answers – she knew that none of them was effective. Good luck that at the South Pole they had their own way – more successful way – for dealing this problem.

_First of all, don't stress about it! __It will only make things harder. Two, I'll send you a tea – it has some special herbs in it, and it has been used in the Water Tribes for generations for dealing with infertility. Drink it twice a day, and wait! It will help, you'll see._

And it did. Not even three months after Katara sent this letter, Kaori announced to them excitedly that she was expecting. Her beautiful firstborn son came to the world eight months later, followed by his little brother not a year later.

All in all, she was happy to have accepted that invitation to this group so long ago – Nüshu became a part of her life, a free-spirited, little rebellious part, so full of laughter and friendship. Years later she looked at this event as one of her best decisions in her life. So no wonder when one day her oldest daughter, a little princess named Reina, only seven at that time, came to her when she was writing a Nüshu letter, asking her what she was doing, she motioned her to sit in her lap, and showed her the letter she was working on.

"See, darling? It's a special letter Mommy is writing. Do you like it?" The little girl nodded shyly.

"It's pretty. You write prettily, Mommy" She put her little finger on one of the characters Katara had written, smearing the ink little. "But I can't read it. What does it say?"

"What about I teach you to read it? You will love it." The little princess looked at her mother, and nodded, smiling broadly. Katara put aside the half-written letter and pulled out a new piece of parchment. Picking up the brush, she wrote down the first character Ursa had taught her all those years ago. "Look, darling, this is how we start…"

**Trivia: Nüshu is an existing syllabic script, used excursively by women in southern China. More info can be found here: **

**wikipedia .org/wiki/N%C3%BCshu**


End file.
